Tax free weekend an opportunity to get kids prepared for school
The second annual Sales Tax Holiday is next weekend and I want to encourage everyone to participate in this special opportunity.
The long weekend of savings is a way to provide tax savings to Tennessee families and help our children prepare to go back to school. From Friday, Aug. 3, through Sunday, Aug. 5, school supplies and clothing priced $100 or less per item and computers priced $1,500 or less can be purchased tax-free.
This session, the Tennessee General Assembly added school art supplies to the list of tax exempt items during the holiday. This includes clay and glazes, acrylic, tempera and oil paints, paintbrushes for artwork, sketch and drawing pads, and watercolors.
The sales tax holiday helps prepare children for success by making sure they start the first day of school properly equipped with items they need. It’s also a way to say thanks to Tennessee’s families for all they do to provide their children with a quality education. But shopping is not all that is needed to get your child ready for school. Complete kids’ back-to-school preparation by enrolling them in CoverKids.
As you may know, CoverKids is a way for Tennessee’s uninsured children to get health insurance coverage. What you may not realize is that 127,000 Tennessee children are uninsured, limiting their ability to receive regular preventative checkups and leaving them susceptible to high health-care costs.
CoverKids allows qualifying children 18 and under to get FREE, comprehensive health insurance so they may obtain preventive health care such as vaccinations and services like doctor visits, prescriptions and hospital visits. In addition to children’s coverage, pregnant women who meet other eligibility criteria can receive maternity coverage through CoverKids as well.
I want to encourage Tennessee parents to take advantage of the opportunities this program provides for their children and enroll. Also, be sure to tell friends, co-workers and family members so they also can benefit from the CoverKids program. It is our responsibility as a community to make sure that our children receive proper health care.
Phil Bredesen is the governor of Tennessee. He can be reached by e-mail at phil.bredesen@state.tn.us.